Headphones measuring heart-rate

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to headphones and a method for listening to music or some other audio signal, which headphones comprise at least one sound source such as a an earphone to be placed in the vicinity of the ear, for producing sound, and a galvanic conductor for feeding an electrical signal from a signal source, such as a music player or similar, to the sound source. In accordance with the invention at least one sound source is equipped with means for measuring heart rate, as well as means for forwarding heart-rate information wirelessly.

The invention relates to headphones measuring heart-rate, according tothe preamble to Claim 1.

The invention also relates to a method.

According to the prior art, applications exist in which headphones,particularly earphones pushed into the outer auditory canal, are used tomeasure heart-rate using the same device that produces music forlistening.

Both wired and wireless solutions are known. The wireless solutions arebased on using Bluetooth technology and for this reason the devices areunavoidably too heavy to use during exercise. The power consumption ofthese wireless devices is also large.

The wired devices, on the other hand, are bound to a specific type ofmusic player or telephone, so that wired headphones according to theprior art that measure heart-rate can only be used in connection with aspecific device.

The invention is intended to eliminate at least some of the drawbacks ofthe prior art.

The invention is based on equipping wired headphones with both a unitthat measures heart-rate, and a transmitter, by means of whichheart-rate information can be sent wirelessly to a wristop computer.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the transmissionand heart-rate measurement units of the headphones receive theiroperating power from the audio signal of the headphones.

According to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, themeasurement/transmission unit uses a battery as its power source, or atleast a battery as a standby power buffer.

More specifically, the device according to the invention ischaracterized by what is stated in the characterizing portion of Claim1.

The method according to the invention is, for its part, characterized bywhat is stated in the characterizing portion of Claim 7.

Considerable advantages are achieved by means of the invention.

The headphone unit measuring heart-rate is entirely independent of themusic player or telephone being used. In other words, the music-playeruser need not synchronize the music library separately with the sportsdevice; instead heart-rate measurement is effortlessly available inconnection with a normal, familiar music device.

Thus, according to the invention, the device to which the headphones arewirelessly connected is a different device to that in which theheart-rate information is displayed. This device, which displays and/orreceives heart-rate information, is typically a wristop computer.

The invention can be used in connection with any music player whatever,using any wireless heart-rate information receiver whatever. From thepoint of view of the heart-rate information reception, there is nodifference whether a message comes from headphones or a heart-rate belt.This can even be implemented in such a way that, if a smart phone isavailable, then the music application, i.e. the ‘player’, is independentand the heart-rate application is independent. The author of theheart-rate application need not then be concerned about the musicapplication, even if the applications are operating simultaneously inthe same telephone.

One advantage of the invention is that wired headphones can be used withonly the input energy of a music player, provided the heart-ratemeasurement solution and transmitter require a sufficiently small amountof energy.

This solution is light. The advantaged of a wired solution over a purelywireless one are lightness, price, and compatibility. The music transferof an entirely wireless solution requires classic Bluetooth, which inturn demands a great deal of power and thus a heavy headphone solution(must be recharged frequently), which is uncomfortable, and in sportsuse often even unusable. In addition, in this case the player too musttransmit music wirelessly, consuming a great deal of power.

A typical solution for the invention is probably one in which theheart-rate sensor and the transmitter have their own replaceabledry-cell or rechargeable battery. The battery is used only forheart-rate measurement and for low-power radio transmission, for examplefor sending a radio message using the Bluetooth low-energy-technologystandard. Energy is not drawn from the battery to produce sound formusic. The electronics of the headphones can be constructed to beseparate; however in such a way that the switching on of the heart-ratemeasurement can be controlled by detecting the music state, so that whenmusic can be heard the measurement is switched on. According to theinvention, it is also possible to switch on the measurement manually.

The invention will be examined on the basis of the accompanying FIGURE,in which

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram on one embodiment of the invention.

According to the invention, the headphones 4 consist ofearphone-elements 3 acting as a sound source, which are connected bygalvanic conductors 2 to a suitable device 1 producing music or speech,which can be an MP3-player, a telephone, or a tablet computer. In thepresent application, the device 1 is also referred to as a signalsource. At least one of the earphone units contains an infraredmeasuring device 6, which is used, for example by means of the techniqueknown from U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,110, to measure an infrared-range signalfrom the surface of the skin or through the skin and to convert thesignal into heart-rate information. In other words, the reflection ofthe skin surface or a change in the emission properties is convertedinto heart-rate information. Radiation can be focused on the skinsurface, or only the infrared radiation emitted by the skin can bemeasured. The signal is measured either from the outer auditory canal orthe auricle, or through the auricle. The measured signal is transmitted8 to a wristop computer by a transmitter 7 using a normalwristop-computer data-transfer protocol, either analogously or digitallywirelessly.

Power supply to the transmitter 7 and the measuring device 6 isimplemented either by its own dry-cell or rechargeable battery, or by‘stealing’ energy from the audio signal.

Instead of infrared measurement, the heart-rate measurement can bemeasured as a galvanic measurement using electrodes between theearphones 3.

1. Headphones for listening to music or some other audio signal, whichcomprise at least one sound source (3) such as a an earphone to beplaced in the vicinity of the ear, for producing sound, and a galvanicconductor (2) for feeding an electrical signal from a signal source (1),such as a music player or similar, to the sound source (3),characterized in that at least one sound source (3) is equipped withmeans (6) for measuring heart rate, as well as means (7) for forwardingheart-rate information wirelessly.
 2. Headphones according to claim 1,characterized in that the heart-rate measurement is implemented usinginfrared technology.
 3. Headphones according to claim 1 or 2,characterized in that the heart-rate measurement is implemented from theouter auditory canal using infrared technology.
 4. Headphones accordingto claim 1, 2, or 3, characterized in that the headphones comprise meansfor starting heart-rate measurement once an audio signal fed to theearphones (3) is detected.
 5. Headphones according to any of the aboveclaims, characterized in that power supply to the measurement andtransmission means is implemented using a dry-cell battery orrechargeable battery.
 6. Headphones according to any of the aboveclaims, characterized in that power supply to the measurement andtransmission means is implemented from the audio signal.
 7. Method inheadphones, in which the signal is fed from a signal source (1), such asa music player or similar, to the sound source (3), with the aid ofgalvanic conductors, characterized in that at least one sound source (3)is equipped with means (6) for measuring heart rate, as well as means(7) for forwarding heart-rate information wirelessly.
 8. Headphonesaccording to claim 7, characterized in that the heart-rate measurementis implemented using infrared technology.
 9. Method according to claim 7or 8, characterized in that the heart-rate measurement is implementedfrom the outer auditory canal using infrared technology.
 10. Methodaccording to claim 7, 8, or 9, characterized in that the headphonescomprise means for starting heart-rate measurement once an audio signalfed to the earphones (3) is detected.
 11. Method according to any of theabove claims, characterized in that power supply to the measurement andtransmission means is implemented using a dry-cell battery orrechargeable battery.
 12. Method according to any of the above claims,characterized in that power supply to the measurement and transmissionmeans is implemented from the audio signal.